Televue Powermate

[pbyrne]

Hi all

 

I was looking around for an eyepiece to fill the gap between my 4.7mm and my 8.8mm Meade S5K UWAs, something in the 7mm range.  Then I saw a Televue 2.5x Powermate for sale, with my 18mm eyepiece this will give a magnification of 7.2mm.  Perfect.  I hummed and  hawed and debated about purchasing it, I was never a fan of the Barlow lens, and after reading online reviews,  I just jumped.  I reasoned that the Powermate will also prove useful when it comes to my early adventures into lunar photography.

I would be interested to hear what any experience anyone has of the Powermate.  

 

[Floater]

It’s the business!

Have no fear; you have invested well. ?

[Relpet]

4 hours ago, pbyrne said:

Hi all

 

 I reasoned that the Powermate will also prove useful when it comes to my early adventures into lunar photography.

I would be interested to hear what any experience anyone has of the Powermate.  

 

I bought recently the 2" 2 x Powermate and love it for lunar photography.  Haven't had a chance to use it for much else yet but looking forward to exploiting it to the full.

[alan potts]

TV Powermates are superb, I only sold mine because I have so many eyepieces and it didn't get used, the Meade Extender is basically a copy and is also very good, both in my books are better than barlows.

Alan

[StarryEyed]

Mine must be fiftheen years old its the single best accessory I ever bought. It looks battered but works like new.

[GlenM]

Could anyone tell me what the Explore Scientific 2" X2 extender is like?

Thank you,

Glen.

 

 

Edited April 25, 2019 by GlenM

[Piero]

Yes, they are good items. 

I used one quite a lot in the past, but it was sold because the baader VIP Barlow works better with my current ep set.

[alan potts]

3 hours ago, GlenM said:

Could anyone tell me what the Explore Scientific 2" X2 extender is like?

Thank you,

Glen.

 

 

It is basically the same as the Meade Tele extender, it may have different coatings but the same lens elements. I have tested a Meade and it is a fine piece of kit, I have no reason to believe the ExSc is any different. I am an eyepiece snob but I would use one Glen. Nice gear from what I have seen of ExSc.

Alan

[niallk]

On 24/04/2019 at 19:18, pbyrne said:

Hi all

 

I was looking around for an eyepiece to fill the gap between my 4.7mm and my 8.8mm Meade S5K UWAs, something in the 7mm range.  Then I saw a Televue 2.5x Powermate for sale, with my 18mm eyepiece this will give a magnification of 7.2mm.  Perfect.  I hummed and  hawed and debated about purchasing it, I was never a fan of the Barlow lens, and after reading online reviews,  I just jumped.  I reasoned that the Powermate will also prove useful when it comes to my early adventures into lunar photography.

I would be interested to hear what any experience anyone has of the Powermate.  

 

I've a 2.5x PM, and use it with my Pan24, N13T6 and N7T6.  It works just beautifully: very happy with it - a lifetime purchase, like my TV EPs

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I have the 2.5x PowerMate, and two Meade TeleXtenders (1.25" 2x and 3x) and they are a far cry from the old Barlow lenses. I generally only use them for planetary and lunar imaging, but visually they are really good. I still prefer using a series of EPs, rather than Barlowing ones to fill the gaps, but that is mainly due to the fact that I find it a bit of a faff, and need frequent refocusing, whereas my planteray EPs are all par-focal.

 

[GlenM]

22 hours ago, alan potts said:

It is basically the same as the Meade Tele extender, it may have different coatings but the same lens elements. I have tested a Meade and it is a fine piece of kit, I have no reason to believe the ExSc is any different. I am an eyepiece snob but I would use one Glen. Nice gear from what I have seen of ExSc.

Alan

Thank you,Alan.

Glen.

 

[Paz]

I use a 1.25" 2.5x power mate quite often with a 8mm-24mm zoom eyepiece and together they cover a lot of ground. Optically it is very good indeed. The only limitation I experience is that it adds weight and therefore vibes if you are pushing your mount capacity already.

I've got some Barlows from cheap through to good quality but the best of those (a 1.5x Antares Barlow) is still  bettered by the power mate.

I think 2.5x is a more useful multiplier than the more common 2x - if you pick your eyepieces carefully then with 2.5x you can avoid duplicating focal lengths more easily.